Zebrowski Pressures State on fire Safety Enforcement

The Journal News July 16, 2015 “Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski, D-New City, also pressed the New York State Department of Education in a separate letter to enforce regulations mandating private schools in Rockland submit annual fire inspection reports showing the facilities are safe and meet regulations. He said 60 schools are in violation. Zebrowski and a countywide housing task force have raised concerns for several years that the lives of firefighters, students, and predominately poor tenants are being endangered by overcrowded houses carved up into multiple apartments and schools being operated in single-family homes without proper fire suppression equipment.

Graph Schools not Inspected (from PreserveRamapo.org)

County Executive Ed Day now has the Rockland Health Department inspecting buildings for violations of the county sanitary code and is publicly naming problem landlords.Officials have focused on Ramapo and Spring Valley, where the state Division of Building Standards and Codes issued critical reports on enforcement earlier this year.The state agency investigated and visited both communities before issuing the reports. Zebrowski said he also wants the state to review the enforcement in the villages of New Hempstead and Kaser. In his letter, he told new state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia to enforce the mandate that private schools file annual fire safety reports. The department’s review of aid applications from private schools is supposed to include the number of students, those safety reports and compliance with local zoning. Zebrowski proposed legislation in 2014 that would require the Education Department to withhold funding from schools that have not filed fire safety reports.” Complete Journal News coverage here.